O PI N I O N Which way now? The route back to normality is proving chaotic, but organisations such as FIDI, that have used the past few months well, now have a clearer vision and sense of future direction. FIDI President Ebru Demirel reects on the impact of key changes S ometimes its hard to tell which way is up. Airlines are back to ying, but container prices are through the roof. Some industries have never seen better times, others act like theyre on the verge of going under. Some employees swear theyll never set foot in an ofce again, others cant get back to their desks fast enough. The good old days got a little boring sometimes, but you knew each one was going to look pretty much like the next. Amid all the chaos, though, theres one thing we know, and that is when we come out the other side, FIDI will need to be strong and healthy. A couple of years from now, when we look back, organisations that have used this time to make themselves stronger, instead of merely responding to the craziness of the world, will be light years ahead of everyone else. I am happy to say that FIDI has been holding its regular slate of meetings on Zoom for the past couple years, and has used them to keep moving forward as an organisation. Im grateful for that, but Ive got to admit, when we nally held our rst face-to-face FIDI Board meeting a few months ago, after almost two years of virtual meetings, it was so nice to be able to sit at the same table. The meetings were very intensive, and a lot of good things came out of them. In particular, we made progress on two of the most important strategic questions we face as an organisation. One is the issue of opening FIDI to new membership categories. As you know, theres been an increasingly big push to do this recently, and, earlier this year, the members asked the FIDI Board to look into it. So, we, the Board, moved on from the biggerW W W. F ID I. O R G FF304 Dec_Jan 22 pp04-05 Ebru Opinion.indd 5 picture questions such as do we do this? to tactical implementation questions like how do we do this? and when do we do this? The second big issue the Board dived into was governance. Ive seen how things work behind the scenes, and even the members have been talking about how FIDI moves too slowly for a fast-changing world. Everyone wants to be democratic, and that democratic nature is one of the strengths of FIDI, but there is such a thing as being too democratic, and even the members are telling us that FIDI has swung too far in that direction. At the Board meeting, we kicked around ideas about how to change such as having the recommendations come from an independent committee, comprised of a variety of voices, so its not just the Board instructing the Board. When the turmoil of the present business environment subsides, people are going to judge FIDI on those two issues, so its important to keep our vision clear and our priorities straight. Its important to stay focused on what will still be with us when things settle down. I hope you enjoy this issue of FIDI Focus. I am condent you will nd it timely, as did I, because its all about the unpredictable situations we, as business owners, are navigating right now. The world needs us to be the ones nimbly steering our rowing boats through these choppy waters. But it also needs us to be the lighthouses planted on the sturdy rocks. Im looking forward to seeing you all at the next conference in Cannes. Its been two years since we got to enjoy the in-person meetings, dinners and cocktail hours, and I cant wait to see them back. EBRU DEMIREL, FIDI PRESIDENT Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: ebrdemirell LinkedIn or by email: ebru@asyanakliyat.com When we held our rst face-to-face Board meeting a few months ago, after almost two years of virtual meetings, it was so nice to be able to sit at the same table 5 07/12/2021 09:31